22nd District Q&A: What would be your approach to your role as representative if the opposition party's candidate is elected president?

Oct. 19, 2012

This part 3 of a five-part Q&A with 22nd District candidates for Congress.

Rep. Richard Hanna

The Bipartisan Policy Center rated me as one of the top five Republicans in Congress willing to work across party lines. Because I work so well with Republicans and Democrats, I was fortunate to see five bills I wrote pass the House with strong support from both parties. Three of these pieces of legislation were signed into law by President Barack Obama after being approved by the Democratic Senate ó the most among first-year members of Congress.

My approach to serving as a representative is the same I applied as a businessman for 27 years when I founded and ran Hanna Construction, employing hundreds of New Yorkers. I didnít get paid for work I didnít complete ó itís just that simple. This is the same solutions-driven mentality I bring to working for upstate New York in Congress.

Regardless of whether President Obama is reelected or Gov. Mitt Romney wins the presidency, I am committed to working with whoever is in the White House and Congress to get results for the Southern Tier and central New York. I look for the best ideas wherever they come from and move forward.

I was honored that President Obama invited me to personally join him in the Oval Office when he signed a bill I authored called the Civilian Service Recognition Act. Rep. Maurice Hinchey was the Democratic co-sponsor of this law, which for the first time would provide an American flag to the families of federal employees killed at home or abroad by an act of terrorism, natural disaster or certain other tragic circumstances. I am pleased that our nation will now be able to formally express our sympathy and gratitude to families of fallen public servants like Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues killed recently by terrorists in Benghazi, Libya.

I have a proven track record of working with Democrats in Congress when the results of collaboration are positive for the Southern Tier and central New York. For example, I worked with Rep. Kathy Hochul from western New York to draft a bill that would ensure dairy producers have access to legal, reliable labor. I teamed up with Rep. Steve Israel from Long Island on a bill that would help students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math afford to attend schools like Binghamton University and Broome Community College. I worked with Sen. Barbara Boxer from California to negotiate a new federal highway bill that is now rebuilding our roads and bridges and creating jobs.

(Page 2 of 2)

While President Obama and I certainly disagree on some policy issues, I know him to be a good man who is serving his country with its best intentions at heart. Should he be reelected this November, I am fully committed to working with him as I have for the past two years to move our nation and upstate New York forward.

Dan Lamb

Part of the reason our Congress is the most partisan, least productive and least popular in history can be traced to its confrontational approach toward working with the White House over the last two years. The American people and folks across New Yorkís 22nd Congressional District are smart enough to know that this approach is holding back our nationís potential, fueling economic insecurity and slowing the pace of recovery from the deep economic recession that began in 2008.

For instance, instead of working with the president to pass constructive improvements to the health care reform law and address the real concerns of business leaders, doctors and hospitals, Congress has fought a politically motivated battle to repeal the law without even presenting an alternative.

Instead of compromising to address our long-term deficit, Congress took a ďmy way or the highwayĒ approach on new revenue, leaving the country in dire financial straights. To emphasize the point, they passed the most radical budget in history, which would end the guarantee of Medicare, cut veteransí benefits and raise taxes on middle-class families. They even offered new tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent.

Iíll take a different approach. Whether the president is Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, Iíll work across the aisle to forge compromise and support policies that incorporate the best of what both parties have to offer.

To help retain and create jobs in the Southern Tier and throughout the region, Iíll focus on pushing forward legislation that nearly everyone can agree on. Iíll work to advance a bipartisan bill to crack down on Chinaís currency manipulation, because China has already taken 3 million of our jobs through unfair trade. Iíll also work to end useless regulations that unnecessarily burden businesses. However, I will not use the need to cut back on red tape as an excuse to launch a wholesale assault on the financial rules that are crucial to the safety of our economy and environmental safeguards designed to protect public health.

Thereís one place I will not compromise, however, and that has to do with how we treat our veterans. I grew up in a military family, and I have family members who are in the military right now. Some in Washington have sought to cut the Department of Veterans Affairs to help balance the budget. I think that would be a huge mistake. Thatís why I will not support any budget that cuts veteransí benefits by one dime, regardless of whether itís proposed by a Democrat or a Republican.

In the end, both parties know what needs to be done to address the crucial issues of our day, and neither side should put their opposition to the president ahead of the needs of our nation. Partisan obstruction has reached new levels over the last two years and, for the sake of our country, it has got to stop. One thing I know is that we canít keep sending the same people back to Congress and expect different results.